Drama Reviews, Opinions & Love!

Category: Opinions

Bromance the Taiwan Drama is exactly what it seems to be – the Taiwanese idol drama adaptation of a very cliché gender-bender shoujo manga that never existed.

Rather than a review, it would probably be more useful to judge whether this drama fits your personal preference and expected type of feels. So, here’s a list of what to expect in the show (with some commentary in between):

Gender Bender
It almost goes without saying that it would be a girl cross-dressing as a guy. This time, it is out of a school setting but into a slightly more adult context, eliminating the unnecessity of a male harem

Super Nice Second Male Lead Childhood FriendEnough said.

Action Setting with “Triad” Background

Every so often, a good shoujo manga comes along and throws in that tension and excitement with this “bad boy” context where he is STILL a nice guy, but badass and tough to everyone else is always a typical sort of appeal. (Not everyone can go into a military setting like DOTS, right?)

The “Strong” Female Lead
Pi Ya Nuo starts off with a convincing enough neutral
behaviour while showing off her (physical) strength and capabilities as a respectable (wo)man. However, Bromance suffers the same problem as many other gender benders – unrealistically effeminate behaviour that gets way too obvious for the context of hidden gender as the female lead falls in love.

Second Pairing Just Because
While I have nothing against the second pairing of Bii + Katie Chen, it is also just as unimpressive. Their only purpose seems to be to act as a foil of an ordinary relationship to the extraordinary circumstances of the main pairing.

If there was any source of concern, it would be how their relationship develops:
Katie Chen’s Nana character is a bubbly sunshine girl that talks almost one-sidedly to the stoic, unresponsive Qingyang (acted by Bii). She sticks to him and somehow, love blossoms~…

Convenient and non-disruptive Discovery of Female Identity OR Acceptance of “Gay” Feelings

Falling into Fanservice

It’s both a boon and a bane that Bromance has plenty of intimate and cheesy scenes of the main pairing after they get together in ways that would definitely give you your cheap feels fix. However, this ends up sacrificing the still-decent plot progression in the initial stages. At some point, you may begin to wonder, is there anything really going on as a driving plot anymore? Of course, if you’re just here for the second-hand embarrassment, then this should not be a problem

8. Behind the Scenes

The irony was that I probably found more enjoyment watching their behind-the-scenes (titled Men’s Talk) after every episode and skipped less of that than the main show. It was definitely amusing to see the actors also cringe and die of laughter from the second-hand embarrassment of the characters’ cheesy acts. If not, there are always plenty of jokes going around between the cast.

9. **SPOILER ALERT – The Reveal**

This used to be one of the most crucial turning points of any gender-bender – the lies, the feeling of betrayal, the angst, the fall out. However, following the path of non-angst in this romantic comedy, rest assured this is no longer the case at all. While there seem to be moments of confronting their love for a “male”, what was supposed to be a fall out dissolves into becoming an open secret that most accept with no qualms.

OVERALL:

Bromance is definitely one of the more recent epitomes of the classic Taiwan idol drama, in a slightly more updated and decently less brainless form. If you’re in the mood for good ol’ cheesiness, shoujo romance tropes and plenty of intimate fan-service scenes, then Bromance is definitely the drama for you.

Bromance is not for everyone, for example if you are looking for character development and plot. But in terms of being a reasonable enough premise for shoujo romance tropes to work, this drama fulfils its purpose and expectations well. After all, sometimes we can be suckers for some brainlessly satisfying romance.

Aoi Miura was a boy who always botches things up at the crucial moment despite all his effort and hard work for preparation beforehand. Although he is constantly put down by others for his failures, Aoi always manage to revive his self confidence with the support of his childhood friend, Akari Serizawa. To the shy and indecisive Aoi, Akari’s bright personality and her willingness to accept him for who he is secretly paved way from friendship to love in the young boy’s heart. Unknown to Aoi, Akari also shares the same feelings towards him but the fear of losing their friendship should their love be unreciprocated has prevented either party from confessing to each other.

One day, a boy named Shota Aoi transferred from Tokyo to the same school as the childhood lovers in Toyama Prefecture. Through a minor event involving Aoi’s best friend, Kouhei Kanazawa, Shota became friends with Aoi and Kouhei, and subsequently came to know of Akari. Being a gloomy person, Shota was attracted to the cheerful and friendly personality of Akari, and fell in love with her at first sight.

Trouble brews in the mean time as Akari’s father becomes knee deep in debt. At the same time, an argument between Akari and Aoi has given Shota an opportunity to create a misunderstanding between the childhood lovers. Thinking that Akari might have feelings towards Shota, Aoi told Shota to go in his place with Akari to the annual Toyama Prefecture’s fireworks festival*. Disappointed that Shota came instead, Akari left to find Aoi whom she then confessed to indirectly through a kiss on his lips. Unbeknownst to Aoi, this will be the last that he will see of Akari until ten years later as she needs to escape from the debtors with her father.

Before leaving, Akari wrote a letter to Aoi in which she confessed her feelings and asked to meet him a year later at the place where she was supposed to meet him for the Toyama annual fireworks festival. This was, again, foiled by Shota who stole the letter before Aoi could read it, and went in place of Aoi to meet Akari. With both parties thinking that they were dumped by the other, they went on with their separate lives and only met ten years later in Tokyo when Shota arranged a meeting between the two. The reunion rekindled the buried feelings that Aoi had towards Akari but also feelings of bitterness towards Shota who is now dating Akari and being much more successful in life than him.

!spoiler alert!

The drama revolves around how the Aoi grew as a person and mainly how the childhood lovers resolve their misunderstandings to come together eventually.

*In Japan, asking someone to go with you to the fireworks festival is usually an indirect way of confessing your feelings. Accepting the invitation usually also suggests that you are interested in the party who invited you.

Review

An asshole second male lead (but this probably shows that his acting was good)

When I watched the first 2-3 episodes, I almost felt like dropping the series because of how asshole the second male lead is in the drama. I really hated how he kept on trying to hurt the feelings of Aoi by showing off his relationship with Akari even though he is perfectly aware that he still has feelings for her. This is why it became absolutely unbearable for me to know that Akari has reached the stage of kissing with Shota kun or possibly even more because it felt like he tainted her somehow…(I was trying to convince myself that she went nothing beyond holding hands with that jerk…..TAT). But towards the last few episodes, I felt slightly better (only very slightly) about Shota since he did change to become a slightly better person.

Although it’s a cruel twist of fate, but I do have to admit that Akari probably wouldn’t be where she is today (being able to study to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher and to be free from debt) if it wasn’t for Shota. If she had been with Aoi back then, it isn’t hard to imagine that they might have broken up because of stress from her financial issues and all (we do have to take into account that Aoi himself is not earning a lot of money unlike Shota who is a doctor).

Furthermore, Shota must have felt somewhere in his heart that it was wrong of him to have tried to come between Akari and Aoi. That is probably why he kept the manga book and Akari’s letter for all this time. Along with that, he also has to deal with his own insecurities about her ever going to know about his deeds, about his own guilty conscience and about their relationship in general. He still somewhat paid for his own actions although probably not in the way that many of us would have felt fully satisfied with.

2. Weak and draggy plot

What I didn’t quite like about the drama is that the plot seems too weak to base the entire drama upon. There are quite a few parts of the drama that can be skipped without affecting how you interpret the story, so I feel that the drama could have been tidier if these parts are improved such that they add more value to the story. Although the drama did try to spice things up by including some stories for the side characters (Kouhei trying to woo Aoi’s sister, Akari trying to locate her father, Kokone who faces a similar situation as Aoi and Akari) but some of these side stories felt more like a device to drag time instead of adding more value to the story.

3. A nice portrayal of friendship + lovable side characters

The thing that I appreciate about the drama is the way they portray friendship. Kouhei is friends with both Shota and Aoi and he tried to be fair in his friendship with the both of them. I liked how he supported both of them and tried to spur them to give their best (encouraging Aoi to be more frank about his feelings with Akari, encouraging Shota to go fair and square with Aoi and to apologise to Akari for his deeds). I suppose the character that I liked the most in the drama is actually Kouhei? I also appreciated how they portrayed humans as shades of grey. While Shota tried to prevent Akari’s dad from contacting her ever again, but I can understand from his perspective that he was in his own way trying to protect her from the fact that her father left her with the debt and had started a new family. While Aoi can be all self sacrificing and considerate, but he does have sides of him that are negative (eg. Being mean and behaving immaturely because he is jealous about Akari and Shota). This goes to show that nobody is completely good or completely bad which is a more realistic portrayal of human nature.

Overall Rating

All in all, I would probably rate the drama as 6.5/10. It is ok for passing time when you are bored but it is probably not a drama that you would highly recommend or watch again. Sure enough, there are certain parts of the drama which I felt was quite relatable to. The male lead’s innocence towards romance and self sacrificing sentiments can also be quite cute at times. However, I felt that there is not much in the plot to hook you such that you will have the motivation to carry on watching the next episode, and the ending is still quite predictable. BUT if you like to watch romance dramas for the angst and a predicted good ending, then go ahead! This is the thing for you!

Adapted from the web novel 杉杉来吃 Boss & Me by Gu Man 顾漫, Boss and Me the C-Drama extends and develops further from the original characters and scenes from the book. Here are some comparisons between the book and drama to see how the adaptation lived up to its original material.

Relatable and mentally strong female lead –
While Shan Shan is optimistic in nature, she is not simply a ball of sunshine that radiates ignorantly no matter what meteor comes her way. She has very understandable doubts in herself, her abilities and her compatibility with someone seemingly faraway from her, Feng Teng (the male lead). however, she chooses to discuss her doubts with her friends, family and most importantly, her love in question, FENG TENG himself.

A+ Communication in Romance –
Even though Feng Teng himself took a while to admit his affections, Shan Shan has set a wonderful standard for romance dramas to look up to. While she was still doubtful about her compatibility with Feng Teng and even Feng Teng’s feelings, she so bravely confessed to him first. She explained that she was not sure what love felt like, that she was not sure what he felt like, but she wanted to confess her feelings anyway. *applause* And even more importantly, their communication and mutual understanding for each other continues even as their relationships develops.

Sweetness with minimal Melodrama –
The development of Boss & Me is fairly unusual for an Asian romance drama. Korean (romance) dramas are rife with melodrama and angst, sudden illnesses, family conflicts, and hidden blood relations/revenge back-stories. This C-Drama however works perfectly well with minimal angst at all. The problems faced in their relationship are straightforward and expected right from the beginning of the story (with the exception of the third-party arc in the drama). Nonetheless, their relationship development is sweet and entertaining with good comedy in their interactions (and Shan Shan’s reactions).

Instead of seeing them painfully separate from each other due to having to travel abroad and such, a more realistic picture of their relationship is wonderfully portrayed. Their longing for each other is not angsty, but a slow reminder of their significance to one another. Instead of seeing grand magnificent dates that other rich millionaires in dramas may have set up, we are treated with scenes of the couple doing simple things like reading and eating together (as the title suggests). This is why Boss & Me is perfect as a feel-good and sweet drama to watch!

Improved & Independent Female Leads!! –
Although Shan Shan began as an ordinary and mediocre entry-level employee, her romance with a rich, capable and handsome person does not merely give her a straight ticket to live the easy and comfortable life. Instead, it gives her new aspirations and motivates her to improve herself. She takes up an accountancy certification course (CPA) (although initially as somewhat of a joke), adapts to her position as Feng Teng’s girlfriend rather than being intimidated by it, and even eventually starts her own business with her cousin Liu Liu.

Liu Liu is also another female character in the show who overcomes her challenges to improve herself. While she was bound to her mother’s expectations and a bad fiance, her capabilities as an entrepreneur shine through and enable her to eventually start her own business and forge a living for herself instead of living by her mother’s expectations.

Good-looking Main Characters –
Not only are the interactions between the characters pleasant, cute, uplifting and adorable, the main characters look really good too. While Hans Zhang may not have the best reputation as a celebrity in the world, his looks and style have been refined over the years to arguably reach its peak in this show. His eye candy power in this show is strong… >.> Zanilia Zhao also does well in portraying a bubbly, cute and relatable Shan Shan, making their interactions truly heartwarming.

The best part about Chinese dramas are that many of them are available online in HD and on YouTube!
The downside is of course that one would need to understand Chinese to hear and read the subtitles to understand. However, I am hopeful that the show would have been popular enough to warrant English subbers to have worked on them!